Watch List notes:

JDL Collection Part II: Geek Coins
ITALY BRUTTIUM

TERINA, Nomos c. 380 BC,

South-Italian standard, AR 6.23 g.
Obv. ΤΕΡΙΝΑΙΛΝ ??Head of the nymph Terina right, wavy hair turned up, wearing triple-drop earring and a necklace of beads.
Rev. Nike seated left on a cippus, dove perched on extended right hand, leaning left hand on cippus.
Literature
BMC Italy 392, 41
SNG ANS 852
SNG Lloyd 761
R. R. Holloway & G. K. Jenkins,
Terina: ex antiquitate nummi, Bellinzona, 1983, 84
K. L. Regling, Terina, Berlin, 1906, – (these dies unlisted)
H. von Fritze & H. Gaebler, "Terina", Nomisma 1, 1907, 15pp, –, cf. pl. II, M+σσσ (these dies unlisted) Antikenmuseum Basel 242
Gulbenkian 1, 154
M.-M. Bendenoun, Coins of the Ancient World, A portrait of the JDL Collection, Tradart, Genève, 2009, 2 (this coin) Historia Numorum Italy 2629
Condition
Rare and possibly the finest specimens known of this very appealing issue. An exquisite portrait of superb style struck in high relief on an unusually broad flan. Lovely light irides- cent tone, unobtrusive traces of over-striking, otherwise good extremely fine.

Provenance
Giessener Münzhandlung Dieter Gorny Gmbh 50, München 1990, lot 137.
If coinage can be taken as a yardstick of civic pride, the spirit of Terina remained intact despite a long history of its subju- gation by more powerful neighbours. The city was founded by Croton late in the 6th Century B.C. on a site that has not certainly been identifed, but which likely is beneath the modern city of Sant'Eufemia Vetere on the south-western coast of the Italian peninsula.
Terina probably remained under the infuence of Croton until 365 B.C., when it fell to the Lucanians. Nine years later it came under the rule of the Bruttians, and except for a brief inter- vention by Alexander the Molossian in about 330/325 B.C., it remained under the Bruttian yoke. Finally, in 203 B.C., it was razed by the armies of Hannibal, who were unable to hold it and thought it better to destroy Terina than to leave it intact for the Romans.
The city's 'independent' silver coinage spans more than 150 years, and with few exceptions has on the obverse a female head presumed to be the local fountain nymph. The reverse shows a female fgure, usually winged, who stands, is seated, or is taking fight. Though limited to a narrow range of subject matter, the engravers at Terina demonstrated their creativity by producing a signifcant number of sub-types, and their skill by engraving some of the fnest dies in the Greek world.
This coin was struck by one of the most accomplished sets of dies from Terina. The portrait is of a remarkable style that Hol- loway and Jenkins noted was clearly influenced by the works of Kimon and Euainetos at Syracuse. If possible, the reverse is even more astonishing, with the figure of Nike being perfectly engraved in the finest style of the Classical period. The delight of the viewer is only heightened by the angular perspective of the cippus upon which Nike rests, for it provides an extraordina- ry depth of field.